


Robert’s Release: An Octo Expansion Fanfiction

by FanficaMan



Series: The Lucas Splattington Universe [2]
Category: Splatoon, Splatoon 2, octo expansion - Fandom
Genre: Drama, Friendship and Love, Octo Expansion, Perseverence, lucas x marina, save the world
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2019-09-22 21:19:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17067311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanficaMan/pseuds/FanficaMan
Summary: Welcome to another FanficaMan fanfiction! This one is about Splatoon 2’s wonderful Octo Expansion. Robert (AKA Agent 8) wakes up with amnesia, lost in the Deepsea Metro. He works with Captain Cuttlefish and Off The Hook to complete tests and collect the four thangs. But to everyoen suprise, it was a scam, and now he must find the REAL exit! Will he make it out and live a peaceful life in Inkopolis with inklings and other good octolings, or be lost to this forgotten world underground?! Once again, ya gotta read to find out!





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place after the events of Cephalove. Lucas is hanging out by the alley near the Cafe when he hears some strange noises coming from the subway ramp...

It was yet another regular day for Lucas Splattington here in Inkopolis Square. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, it was a perfect day, like absolutely nothing could go wrong! He was happy to be with his wonderful girlfriend, Marina of Off the Hook. Today was the day after Lucas saved her life after the uh... incident that happened down in Octo Canyon. Today was OTH’s day off, and Lucas had a bit of a date planned for today. It was still a little early, Pearl and Marina were up at their house on Mount Nantai just chillin, and Lucas was hanging by that same corner, in between the studio and the cafe. 

He was texting on his phone, until something caught his eye. He saw some sort of small card, sitting on the ground by the window of the cafe. He walked over to it, and picked it up to carefully observe it. It seemed like a scanning type of card, since it had a long black strip on the bottom of one side. He looked at the front of it and there wasn’t much, just a white background and in the corner, was some weird looking blob with spikes. “Must be someone’s weird club card!” Lucas thought.

Then he found another one, closer to the corner where he was originally standing. It looked exactly the same. Near that second card, was some weird looking device. It was blue, slightly filthy, and it had a symbol that looked like two wavy lines. In the center was some sort of joystick. Lucas tried to move it around, and pressed a few buttons, but nothing happened. It appeared to have been busted or broken or out of battery, lucas don’t know which.

But then, something caught his ear. It was coming from the ramp deeper back in the alley, that led down to a subway. Lucas never went down there, it was blocked off by a short barred gate. He could slip through it in squid form, but he never decided to. He listen a little closely. He could here talking, or something. Little did he know, he was about to hear a story that echos from the deep, and will change the lives of many...


	2. Awoken and Amnesiac

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robert, our soon-to-be hero wakes in a strange underground subway station. He has no memory of himself or what happened. He meets Captain Cuttlefish, who threatened him at first but then befriended him when he realized he was an Octoling who heard the Calimari Inkantation. Now the two must travel the subway and find a way out, if they can...

**From Robert's POV**

Everything was dark. My mind was blank. I couldn't remember a thing, except for one thing: that melody. Something about it filled me with hope, joy, and happiness. I silently hummed the melody to myself, until I heard something...

I woke up... or regained consciousness at least. My body ached. I could hardly move. I slowly opened my eyes. My vision was blurry, I could hardly see, but I could make out that sound, a voice, saying, "Ahoy! Octoling!" What on earth was an octoling?

I realized the figure standing above me was speaking a language I knew, but it wasn't my own language, at least, I didn't think it was. My eyes came into focus until I could clearly see the figure. It was an elderly inkling. I didn't know it was an inkling at first. I hardly knew anything when I woke up. The old inkling looked at me with large, brown eyes. He looked quite old. I could tell by his pale white eyebrows and mustache, and he held a cane in one hand, struggling to hold himself up. He wore large, black specs, a pair of headphones against his neck, a green... tracksuit of some sort, with various medals and badges pinned to it, and he had some sort of leader cap, with the tip facing backward. The old man continued, "Up and at 'em, ya lazy whiffle-whaffle!" I tried to move my body but still struggled. "This fight ain't over! Prepare yourself for a royal whoopin'!" I got scared, and again tried to move, but my body still ached. I prepared myself for this so-called "royal whoopin,'" but nothing happened, the man simply said, "But there's no honor in defeating an unarmed opponent..." I quietly sighed in relief, then he continued, "...and you seem to have lost your weapon around here somewhere." The man looked around a few times, then back at me. "And just where is...here...anyway?"

I didn't know the answer to that either. I tried my best to look around, slightly turning my head as much as possible, but couldn't recognize my surroundings. I didn't even know where I was before, until the old man reminded me of what he knew, "Last thing I remember, you were battling my protege, Agent 3, in Octo Valley...when both of you were suddenly attacked by someone." Octo Valley... that place sounded familiar. "And somehow we got marooned here..." I searched my mind, and I could slightly remember me in one place, possibly Octo Valley, until everything went dark. I must have hit the ground and lost my memory, and now I'm in... this place. The old man continued, "So uh...hows about we call a temporary truce while we find a way to escape?" I was confused by his sudden change of attitude, but ah, what luck! A truce! Though it was only temporary, or so I thought, I was glad that I wouldn't be hurt by this man. In fact, we would be working together. I could really use some help in the condition I was in. "But where are my manners...I haven't even told you my name!" The man was about to introduce himself, finally.

"I'm Cap'n Cuttlefish," he said, "leader of the legendary New Squidbeak Splatoon!" I have never heard of this "New Squidbeak Splatoon," but "Squidbeak Splatoon," just those two words, I felt I had a faint memory of. They were somewhere, swimming around in my head. Then, the man, er, Cap'n Cuttlefish asked, "And you are...?" He asked my name, but that was the number one thing I could not remember. I thought and thought, but I couldn't find it anywhere in my memory. The man hesitated, then whispered, "*psst* This is the part where you tell me your name." I knew what he meant already, but I still couldn't find my name. With the little energy I had, that soon started to regain, I spoke, in the language, I thought matched the one he was using.

"I-I... d-o n-not... rrrememb-ber," I muttered. I told him what I thought happened, my voice weak, but clear enough to get through his pointy ears.

"By kracken..." he said, "You lost your memory when you hit the ground?!" I nodded. "You can't remember anything about yourself? anything at all?!" I shook my head, then started to search my memory, for what I was.

I saw myself floating in a green, bubbling fluid. I was naked, only covered by seaweed. I could remember this much: I was an octoling, like what Mr. cuttlefish said. It was some special kind of octopus that can transform into a humanoid form. I remembered there was another animal like this: An Inkling, which is a squid that can become a humanoid like us. Now, I focused on my appearance. I was a male. I had white skin, golden yellow eyes, and large, round hair. However, it is not actual hair, it is made out of tentacles, I think. There it was. My appearance! I was sure this was me. With my positivity, I started to regain energy.

I could move my body a bit more, and start to clearly see my surroundings. Though I could only remember what I looked like, I hoped I would soon be able to remember more about myself. Mr. Cuttlefish continued to speak. "Most interesting..." he said, "I noticed you were humming the Calimari Inkantation right before you came to..." So, that was the name of the song, but what about it was so special? So special that it filled me with this hope? "Could it be? Has the song been etched into your very soul?!" I was surprised when he said this. Perhaps he was right! Maybe the song was etched into my soul! It was like, nothing else in my life mattered but that song. Mr. Cuttlefish stared at me, noticing how surprised I was. "I'll take your stunned silence as a YES! I heard tell of Octarians whose souls were etched by those squidtastic grooves..." Octarians? That must have been the category that these octolings were in. Other people have experienced this special song too? I was glad I wasn't the only one, but sad, that I may have been the only one to end up here, in this mysterious place. "But that was a couple years back, during Agent 3's battle with DJ Octavio." Mr. Cuttlefish once again mentioned this "Agent 3" and someone else named "DJ Octavio". I could not remember either of them, but if they battled, then they must not have liked each other very much. "Still. I can't shake the feeling that this is related somehow." I couldn't shake the feeling either. Somehow, I felt, that this "battle" is what caused me to hear the Inkantation and feel this way. "In any case, sorry for siccing Agent 3 on ya back there," Cuttlefish apologized, "Any fan of the Squid sisters is a friend of mine! I mean that with all of my hearts!" I smiled. I was glad that he considered us friends now, and that he knew I meant no harm, or at least, he knew that I wasn't bad since I heard this song. I honestly didn't mean anyone harm at the moment. I just wanted to leave this place. "Now dust yourself off and find your land legs. We need to get moving!" I finally got up, then Mr. Cuttlefish yelled, "Let's find a way outta here!"

I could finally stand up. I looked down at myself, and noticed I was wearing different clothes, or, did I always have these clothes. I still couldn't remember anything but my appearance. I was wearing some sort of leather jacket, with a long sleeve on my right arm, and a very short sleeve on the left arm. It looked to be designed so that it was intentionally, or unintentionally, short enough that it showed a bit of my belly. I also had some tight leather pants, leather boots with a bit of a heel, and two wristbands, one of my left wrist, and one on my right ankle. They both had the number "10008" labeled on them. I felt a weight behind my back. Some sort of liquid-filled backpack. I was unsure what was in it, but I thought I remembered it from somewhere.

I walked around and observed my surroundings. I appeared to be in some sort of abandoned subway station. There were torn down places and strange posters scattered around everywhere, which gave off a dark, mysterious and scary vibe, but I was hopeful I'd find a way out. I walked over to Cap'n Cuttlefish as he muttered things to himself like, "This place looks abandoned..." and "Where has Agent 3 disappeared to..." and other things. I did notice that this "Agent 3 " was nowhere to be seen. Of course, I couldn't remember what they looked like, but I noticed that we were the only two people down here. Mr. Cuttlefish spoke up and said to me, "Not much going on here... How about heading up that ramp?" I agreed that we should get a move on. Up ahead was a ramp leading to a broken subway train (that's how I knew we were in a subway station). I walked up to the platform and into the train. There was nowhere to go but left inside the car. I traveled down a few cars until I saw some puddles of magenta-colored fluid. I realized what it was: Ink! I remembered that us octolings (and inklings I thought) had the ability to transform back into our natural forms (an octopus for octolings) and swim in ink that matched our color. I touched my hair and looked down at my hand,  seeing that the color of my hair secretions matched the color of the puddles. What luck, now I can swim in these puddles. I transformed into an octopus and went inside the puddles. The ink felt cool and refreshing. I hopped through the puddles until I reached a long path of ink. I rushed through it until the path of ink stopped, and I realized I wasn't on the train anymore. I looked ahead and saw a light at the end of the tracks. I looked behind me and saw at the Cap'n was struggling to step through the ink that wasn't his color. Not only was the ink not his color (if he even had an ink color), but I don't think it was his type of ink either. I think Inklings and Octolings have their own separate inks that can harm the other species despite their color. There may have also been a type of ink that suits both species, but now was not the time to ponder this. Once Mr. Cuttlefish got through the ink, we both traveled to the lit-up doorway.

We reached another room, though it was much smaller than the one I woke up in. I had to get through some sort of police tape in order to enter this place Cuttlefish got through, and when he did, he said, "What in the devilish is this place?! Proceed with caution..." I did so, slowly approaching my way across the room. The room was filled with boxes, all stacked and lined up against the walls. There were also two suspicious-looking IVs, filled with a mysterious turquoise liquid. Was it inkling ink?  Or something else? I continued across the room and noticed a large cube with a picture of a key on it,  in front of me, blocking the way out of the room. "Hey-that's an Octarian vault!" said Cuttlefish, "You need a key to open it." I looked around but found no key. "Being an Octarian and all... you sure this place doesn't look familiar?" Nothing here was familiar, not even this "Octarian  Vault". 

"I a-am not having the memories of t-this place," I responded. Judging by the Cap'n's confused look, I may have mixed up my words a bit. I wasn't very good at speaking this language.

"Uh... are you trying to say that you don't remember this place? You mean it's not familiar to you at all?" he said. I shook my head, and looked down, embarrassed at my inability to communicate clearly. "I see you are having trouble speaking Inkling... but you can understand what I am saying, correct?" I nodded. I must have learned the Inkling language at some point in my life because I can understand most of it, and possibly read it too, but I just wasn't fluent in speaking it. "Hmmmm... perhaps while we find a way out of here, I could give you a few  lessons  on how to speak Inkling, if that's alright with you." I nodded eagerly. I  really wanted to learn the language, and I was glad the Cap'n was offering to help me. I kept looking around the room until I saw a weird, electronic pressure plate, right next to this weird ball with a nozzle sticking out of it. The nozzle pointed to a smaller ball, floating in the air, that had two nozzles on the bottom of it. This floating ball was floating above a pile of boxes, which blocked the path to another room, that I couldn't see clearly. I tried to step on the pressure plate, lining my feet up with the red, lit-up footprints, and then suddenly, the pressure plate lit up to match my ink color, and the nozzle ball on the right activated. It sprayed a long strip of ink out if its nozzle in the same direction it was pointing. The ink line went into one nozzle of the small, floating ball, and out the other nozzle. I couldn't see where the ink line went next.

I didn't know what to do until I thought, " What  if I can swim in this line of ink?" I turned into an octopus and tested my theory. It worked! I could swim inside this ink line. I traveled through the line, into the floating nozzle-ball, and over the boxes, down into where the ink line ended. It turned out it ended at another nozzle-ball. Strange, but fascinating. These nozzle balls can create this path of ink that connects to one another by each nozzle. I felt like I've seen this technology before. Was it more Octarian tech? I was unsure. I continued past the nozzle balls and came across another pressure plate, but it looked different than the one I stepped on before. It was larger and black, and it didn't look electronic. I lined up my feet with the footprints, and suddenly, this large, glass cylinder shot up from the plate and surrounded me, while a red laser scanned me from inside. I was nervous, I couldn't escape the cylinder, and I was worried I'd be trapped in there forever. That was until I noticed the screen in front of me. It showed a picture of this weird gun, that looked like a toy, and a triangle next to it. There was text below it, and I attempted to read it. It said "Splattershot Jr. & Splat  Bomb".  Splat Bomb sounded familiar. I touched the image, not knowing what else to do, and suddenly, that same gun appeared in my hands, and the cylinder went back down.

"Booyeah!" said Cuttlefish, "That contraption back there gave you a weapon!" A weapon? So this gun is not a toy. There was a pile of wooden boxes in front of me.  Maybe  I could shoot them. I nervously pointed my gun at the boxes and pulled the trigger. Lightning fast, an army of large, magenta  -colored drops of ink shot out of the gun and destroyed all of the boxes.  What a rush! It came back to me now. I remembered, I felt, that I was once trained to use weapons like these. These... ink weapons. I looked at the ink that I shot on the ground. I  was able to submerge in it in my octopus form. When I came out of the ink, my backpack felt a bit heavier than it did before I went in the puddle. Perhaps these ink weapons use the ink from my backpack, and I can refill it by going inside the ink. What amazing technology! I reached behind me, and I pulled out one of those triangles, those "Splat  Bombs".  It was actually in the shape of a triangular pyramid. When I threw it, it bounced on the floor a bit, and then it exploded into ink.  Now  I get why these things have their name. The bomb seemed to take up a lot of ink, so I refilled it and continued on into the room. There were all sorts of things in this room. These weird colored boxes of all sizes, which looked different from the wooden ones, colored balloons floating in the air, some weird looking balloons, and some other objects and mechanisms that seemed a bit familiar. The only unfamiliar things in this room were the colored boxes, balloons,  as well as more turquoise IVs, and large, glass crates that surrounded the room's walls.

In front of me at the moment were two small, yellow boxes. One was on the right of the ramp in front of me, the other was on the platform above the ramp. Next to the farther yellow box was a large orange box. Floating between the two was a yellow balloon. These weird boxes and balloons seemed to have targets on them like they were... meant to be destroyed. I ended up destroying all of them. The large orange box took a few more shots to break. On the far right of the ramp was one of these weird balloons, or, inflatables. It was while, stuck to the ground, and it had this weird symbol, or logo, on it that I've been seeing all around the subway. The inflatable resembled an octopus. Perhaps it was a test dummy? I shot it, and a few seconds later, it reinflated itself, in the same spot, and made a *ding* sound when finished. Perhaps it was a test dummy. I continued into the room. In the center was another weird balloon. It looked like some sort of balloon fish, and it was surrounded by wooden boxes in the back. When I shot the fish, it expanded, and exploded into a magenta puddle, and destroyed the boxes behind it. This actually seemed kind of fun, but I had to focus on finding that key. Cap'n Cuttlefish spoke up and mentioned, "Doesn't seem like any other Octarians are here... This place might be abandoned." This place obviously was abandoned, since I have seen no one else here but the Cap'n and I.

There were more of those mechanisms all around the room. On the right of me was some more colored boxes. I went right and shot them all, and then noticed the yellow, inflatable platform on my left. I jumped on it, and it lept me high into the air. I went forward towards an area between two large, glass crates. On the right were two small yellow boxes that I shot, and on the left was this weird valve attached to the ground. I didn't think I could use the valve manually, so I shot it instead, and a large geyser of ink rose up from the platform that the valve was on. I swam into the ink and was pushed upwards, and I turned left so I could go on top on these large crates that were at the far center of the room. Atop this crate were some wooden boxes. I shot those, then noticed an orange, wooden crate, that was wrapped in plastic. It took a lot of shots to break, and when it broke, it revealed the key! I found it! I grabbed it, and the Cap'n said, "Ahoy-you found that key! Now head back and open that vault." I went back to the center of the room, but I didn't want to leave just yet. I went to check out some of the mechanisms that I would've used if I turned left earlier.

There was this nifty, little conveyor belt that pointed upwards. I stepped on it and it shot me up in the air, in the direction it pointed, at high speeds. I landed right on top of another conveyor belt, that shot me in another direction, towards the far-left center of the room. That was fun, yet kinda scary. I didn't expect to be rushed forwards like that. I noticed there were these weird, yellow circles that looked like bumpers. They didn't seem to do anything, so I continued right, and saw a few more mechanisms. One was this sponge thing that expanded when I shot it with ink. I could swim in it too! Above the sponge was this floating, propeller-ball, that had a fishing hook below it. I shot it with my gun and it pulled me right up to its location,  on top of the glass crates in the far center of the room. There was a balloon I noticed floating high in the air in the center of the room. I knew I could shoot it with my weapon,  but instead, I looked to see if there was another way to shoot it. Back towards the sponge, I noticed this nozzle ball, but it looked much different than the ones I've seen before. It was a bit smaller, and it had a propeller on it, directly behind the nozzle. I shot it, and it shot out this large, spiraling wire of ink, that was literally a wire tipped in ink. I thought I could swim it in, but when I stepped on it, I realized I could just stand on it, and it seemed to move me on its own. I guessed I was supposed to ride this wire. The wire seemed to have its own custom path, instead of pointing in one direction. It traveled me up above the room, where I could shoot that balloon I saw earlier,  as well as some other balloons that are near the path of the wire. I could submerge in the wire like with the original nozzle balls, but I realized I can also jump and shoot in midair, and then land right back on the wire. The wire ended its path above a crate in the near-right corner of the room, where I saw another wire-ball. I shot it, and it led me on a different path. It actually led me right back to the center crates where I could get the key. These rooms were so nifty, I was actually quite interested in finding more. I finally went back the way  I came into the room. I went on top of the pressure plate, and the cylinder came back up and removed my weapon.

"That contraption stole your weapon back! Buncha hooey if you ask me!" said Cap'n Cuttlefish. I agreed, I wanted to keep my weapons, but perhaps I could find more. I went back over the boxes by going through the nozzle balls, and I went up to the crate to unlock it. There was no keyhole. I simply touched the key to the vault, and it disappeared right before my eyes. The path was now open! "This looks a little sketchy but... You're gonna have to check it out." The Cap'n was right. There was no other way to go, so we continued on forward, through the dark hallway into the unknown. 

"Well, we found a way out..." said Cuttlefish, when we made it to the other room, stepped off on the rails, and onto the platform in the center, "Sort of..." This wasn't exactly a way out, just another room, but a much larger room. We were walking along the train tracks of another subway station platform, but it must have been like, a  _main_ subway station. There were two sets of rails, which were on either side of the platform, that all went into dark tunnels. "Uh..." said the Cap'n. I was speechless too. This place kept getting more and more mysterious. The ceiling curved high above us, with faulty lights hanging above on wires. There were posters on the sides of the room. Though they were big and filled the walls, they were still a bit hard to see from where we were standing. The platform seemed to have lockers on each end. We were on one end, which had a weird vending machine and 10 lockers, and we couldn't see the other end, but I assumed it looked the same. In the center of the platform was a tall, suspicious looking telephone, with a light from above shining directly at it. That could only have been an indication that we had to go up to the phone and interact with it. I talked to Cuttlefish, but all he said was stuff like, "Where the heck are we?", "This place gives me the willies...", and "Got any crabby cakes?" He must've been as hungry, confused, and nervous as I was. I, unfortunately, didn't have any food, but I hoped we'd find some when we escape. The telephone kept ringing, calling to us, so we finally went up to it, and answered it. I don't know how I answered it. I couldn't seem to reach the thing you speak in. I simply touched the phone and it activated.

It started making weird electronic noises, then I heard a robotic voice say, "[SEARCHING FOR USER ID...] [USER 10008 CONFIRMED]." So  _that's_ what those numbers represented. My User ID. Wait... user? I wasn't the first? So other people have been through here before? It appeared so. Suddenly, the telephone actually started talking! It used a less robotic, and slightly more clear voice. "Greetings, 10,0008. Your current location is: Deepsea Metro Central Station," it said, as it bobbed back and forth, and it's speaker physically mouthed the words. It was like it was actually alive! I thought about what it said. We were in a place called the Deepsea Metro, and this was its central station. So it did turn out it was a subway station, but why have testing rooms? The phone kept speaking, "My primary function is to facilitate your journey to the promised land. Pleased to make your acquaintance." I didn't know what this "promised land" was, but I hoped it was the way out.  The telephone then switched to its robotic voice as it, um... activated more stuff? "[ASSESSING COMMUNICATION EFFICIENCY...] [EFFICIENCY: 12.42%] [ENABLING CONTEMPORARY SPEECH MODE]." I didn't think the communication efficiency was that low. I thought it communicated perfectly clear. I could understand each word. There was no point in it changing its speech mode, but it did. It spoke in more of a... teenage kind of voice, using a lot of slang, as it didn't seem to move much when it spoke. "What is crackalacking, home skillet? Let us bounce to the promised land fo sho," it said, and then it started moving more when it said, "I am bout it bout it, so listen while I [SLANG_NOT_FOUND] you the acts." How ironic. It changed its voice to make it more efficient, and it couldn't even find the right slang. I decided I'd just keep listening.

"You have spent your life in the dark," said the telephone, "Your eyes closed to the new hotness that awaits." Was I really in the dark all my life? When I blacked out, I supposed it really felt that way. I still couldn't remember my past life, I could only make assumptions based on what I can do now, but if I'm offered "new hotness", then perhaps I can get back on track, and maybe even more! "The promised land," said the telephone, "A utopia of light beyond your wildest dreams. It is all that and a bag of cool beans." That sounded great! A utopia of light. I could escape this darkness and see the sky again, and... a bag of cool beans apparently. I could use some beans, any food at that moment, actually. I was starving, but at that moment, I only truly desired freedom, and a chance to start over and regain my memories and everything. "I will take you to the promised land now." I was excited. "NOT!" For a short moment. "HA HA HA. Psyche out." That wasn't very cool of the phone to do. "Only cats who have proven themselves can [ERROR] the promised land. Do you did, dog?" I wasn't a cat, or a dog (it must've been more slang), but I was willing to prove myself to [ERROR], or, _enter_  this place. I think that's what the phone meant to say. "There have been 10,007 applicants so far, which makes you applicant 10,008." I  _definitely_ wasn't the first user here. "This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo. Good luck and [SLANG_NOT_FOUND]." Now it finally started to talk about this specific place. "This is Deepsea Metro Central Station, the realio dealio central hub of the facility. Here is your CQ-80 and CQ card. They are so bad." Suddenly, a small plastic card came out of the dispenser underneath the speaker, followed by a clunk, when a remote device of some sort came out of the telephone (I couldn't remember where), and fell on the ground. These must be my CQ card and CQ-80. "Guard them with your lizzife," said the phone, "because if you lose them, you will be [ERROR]." That last [ERROR] scared me. I don't know what word it could've been, there were so many possibilities. I just assumed there would be a major consequence if I lost these things. "Now come on ride the train. Outie 5000." the telephone stopped moving and went silent, it must have finally been done talking.

"Applicant 10,008, eh? That's a beakful," said Cap'n Cuttlefish (I almost forgot he was there), "I think I'll just call you Agent 8." That was when I received the name that my closest friends would forever know me by until I would find my real name. Agent 8... it sounded nice. It had a nice ring to it. I suddenly remembered that Cap'n Cuttlefish has an Agent 3. Was I part of his New Squidbeak Splatoon? What about the other six agents?! Then I remembered that this was just a nickname since my name given by the telephone was a "beakful". "8" was short for 10,008, and "Agent"... I wasn't really an agent, but it seemed that Cap'n Cuttlefish liked to give that name to his partners. "This 'promised land' must be the surface. I wonder how deep underground we are..." I wondered that too. Subways can't go up. Maybe there was a ladder or elevator I would have access to if I "proved myself". "There's no time to waste!" barked the Cap'n, "C'mon, Agent 8! Grab those new dealie-dos and get moving!" I picked up my two CQ's (that's a fun little name!) and then I waited for the train that I remembered was going to pick me up. I heard the horn echo from the tunnels, then I saw a light, as a subway emerged and stopped at the platform. Cuttlefish and I stepped on board, and the train moved back into the same tunnel, as we were transported into more of the unknown...

On the train, Cap'n Cuttlefish sat down on a bench. "I'm pooped, Agent 8," he said, "Gonna rest my cuttlebones here for a bit." Suddenly, the sliding door to the left of me opened up, and a small, blue, spiky blob with a little hat emerged from the left car into ours. 

"Thank you for using Deepsea Metro today," said the blob, "I am your humble conductor, C.Q. Cumber." So this blog was actually a sea cucumber, as his name implied. That was actually a very fitting name. I think it's a pun.

"You gotta be squiddin' me!" exclaimed Mr. Cuttlefish, "A talkin' sea slug?!" Even  _I_ knew what he was.

"Pardon me?" replied C.Q. Cumber, "I take it this is your first time riding with us..." He slowly inched his way forward towards us (I counted 11 inches), then he perked his body up and spoke. "Here's the deal... We're in a vast underground facility operated by the Kamobo Corporation... It's a series of test chambers connected by the Deepsea Metro subway system." The conductor explained things much more clearly than the telephone did. Apparently, there were more test chambers in this place, this... facility. I'd never heard of this "Kamobo Corporation", but I'm guessing the symbol I'd kept seeing around the facility belonged to them. C.Q. Cumber even had the same logo on his little cap. I kinda wanted to wear it. Then C.Q. Cumber looked to me and said, "I see that you're in possession of a CQ-80 device." Now I saw where the "CQ" name came from. "I take it your aim is to reach the promised land?"

"That's right! We want out of here!" yelled the Cap'n.

"Understood," replied C.Q. Cumber, "The promised land is a paradise to which we denizens of the depths are forbidden entry." That didn't seem fair. Why can't  _everyone_ go to this place? Maybe it was only reserved for test subjects (and their companions, like the Cap'n. I wanted him to escape too. He seemed so desperate, and I wanted to help him). "To reach it, you must pass a test at each Deepsea Metro station." So each station had it's own testing room? How many were there? I hoped there weren't too many. "You must also find and collect the four thangs." Those sounded important, and they apparently were. "When all four thangs have been gathered, the door to the promised land shall open." That was it! The way out! I just need these "thangs".

"So all we gotta do is pass some tests and find some thangs and we can go home?" asked the Cap'n.

"I believe so..." said C.Q. Cumber (though he sounded a bit unsure), "Let me show you to your first test. Pull out your CQ-80, test subject 10,0008." I did so, though I felt uneasy being called a "test subject". "Press the upper button in that group of four buttons to activate it." I noticed four buttons on the remote, lined up to form a plus. I pressed the button and a hologram came out of the CQ-80. 

Cap'n Cuttlefish was just as surprised as I was. "Oho! What in the blazes?! Technology these days..." he said. The hologram showed a thick, yellow, horizontal line, with two white squares inside it on the left, and one on the right. In the middle was a red dot that appeared before Cap'n Cuttlefish spoke. Below the dot was a large, yellow circle that was connected to the line. Inside it was a semicircle-shaped... thing. It must have represented the central station because that's where I was before. Actually, I thought it was where I currently was now. Above the yellow line was a header that read "'The promised land awaits!'" To the left of the text was a yellow circle with the label "A00" inside it. I guessed that the label was the number for the station I was at, er, yes,  _was_ at.

"This is the Deepsea Metro map," said C.Q. Cumber, "Go ahead and select a destination." A circle with an arrow appeared over the circle that represented central station. This must have been my cursor, which I could control with the joystick above the plus buttons. I could use the cursor to select my location on the yellow line on the map, though I was only able to select one: the station that the red dot represented. The station was called "Fake Plastic Station" and the quote above it said "'Looks like the real thing...'" Below the station name was some italicized text that said " _Get to the goal!_ " with an arrow on the left of the text pointing right. The station label was "A05". It must have been the fifth station in this line. Why couldn't I start at the first one? Maybe because this is the closest one, I thought. To the right of this text was what was most interesting. It was a little square section divided by a white line. In the top left corner of this section, there was a note that said "Test Fee 100". I didn't know what that meant... yet. Below this note was a picture of another gun, though it looked different than the one I used before. In the top right of this section was a little white bar that had an octopus with "x3" next to it. I didn't know what all of this meant, so I just selected the station with the right plus button and hoped I would learn from there. "Very good," said C.Q. Cumber, "Now departing for the first test."

{Author's Note: This section below is basically my headcanon for how Cap'n Cuttlefish was able to communicate with 8 during the tests.}

While we rode to the next test, C.Q. Cumber went up to Cap'n Cuttlefish and talked to him. "You are not a test subject yourself, right?" he asked.

"No," replied Mr. Cuttlefish, "I don't think so. I was taken down here along with 8, but I didn't have any of that fancy-pants clothes"

"So are you here to assist the test subject during his tests?"

"I... suppose so. I think 8 here could use my help. This all seems new to him. Though I don't know what to expect either. Meh, whatever. How can I communicate with 8? Do I get another one of them gadgets?"

"No. Do you have a mobile phone with you?"

"Yes, I do actually."

"Pull it out. I can make it so that you can use it to communicate with the test subject. It will connect to the CQ-80 like a walkie talkie."

"You can do that?! With this old piece of junk?! Amazing! Work your magic." Cap'n Cuttlefish gives C.Q. Cumber his old flip-phone, and C.Q. Cumber pulls out a little device with a wire attached to it. He plugged the open end of the wire into the phone and downloaded the communication software.

"All done!" the conductor said proudly, "This software will not only let you communicate, but it will also let you view the map of each station. You should be of much help to subject 10,008."

"Wow, that's amazing! Thanks. Now let's try this thing out." The phone connected to the CQ-80 and Cap'n Cuttlefish pressed the button to talk. "Testing, testing. Come in, Agent 8. Is this thing workin'. Can you hear me?"

I heard the voice come from my CQ-80. "Uh y-yes! I am h-hearing you not bad!" I said, into the CQ-80.

The voice went right back to the Cap'n's phone. We were communicating! "Booyeah! It works!" said the Cap'n.

"Subject 10,0008... you do not have to hold the CQ-80 up to your mouth for it to go through. The CQ-80 has a built-in microphone that can pick up your voice even while it's in your pocket." That was good, I thought, because I would need two hands to use weapons. I was glad the Cap'n was offering to help, though he does not seem to like Octolings unless they are fans of these... Squid Sisters, who probably sing that special song. I wondered why...

{Okay that's the end of the headcanon}

I arrived at Fake Plastic Station. It was just a small outside area surrounded by glass walls. In front of me was another weird pressure plate, the black one. I stepped on it, and a cylinder surrounded me, like with the other one. Once the screen appeared in front of me, C.Q. Cumber explained, "At each station, the available weapons will be displayed atop the equipper." This screen must have been the equipper. "CQ Points are required to take each test. We'll grant you 1,000 to start with." I noticed a small label in the bottom right corner of the equipper screen that showed the number 1,000 on it. This must show how many credits I have. "The test fee indicates the number of CQ points needed to take the test." What?! We had to exchange credits to  _take_ the test?! That sounded a bit ridiculous, but I just went with it. "The reward is how many CQ points you will earn for passing the test." Oh! We get rewarded points, too! How swell! This would probably prove useful for later tests. "Now go ahead and touch the weapon you want to select on the screen." There was only one option, so I pressed it, and I equipped the weapon. "This area we're now in is called a station platform. You can find me here at each stop. If you'd like more info about a certain test, come talk to me. I'm always happy to help." 

This Splattershot behaved a bit differently than the Splattershot Jr. It shot ink farther, but the shots spread out less, and its fire rate was a bit slower. I noticed there was another balloon dummy in the corner of the station platform. It took fewer shots to pop it than with the Splattershot Jr, so I thought that this weapon also did more damage. Another thing about this weapon... it seemed more familiar to me, much more familiar than the Jr., like I've used it more often. Same with the Splat Bombs. It all felt like I've used this weapon several times before. Anyways, I had a few questions to ask CQ Cumber.

First, I asked him what the "octopus x 3" thing was all about. He said it represented my number of lives. If I got splatted, I would lose a life, but then I would regenerate and restart the test at the last checkpoint. If I lost all of my lives, I would have to pay points to restart with all of my lives. I didn't know I could get hurt during these tests, but if I'm given a chance to restart, that's good enough. Then, I asked C.Q. Cumber about the test. He said I had to shoot and then touch the goal. If only I had known what the goal looked like, but I thought it would be obvious what the goal was. He also mentioned that the visibility was poor, so I should be careful. After talking with the sea cucumber, I went up to the glass doors that led into the test room. "This is a turnstyle," said C.Q. Cumber, "Scan your card on the scanner to the right to pay the test fee and begin the test. If you don't have enough CQ points to take a test, you'll have to come back to it. Once you scan the card, prepare to jump right into the testing room. Good luck 10,008!" I scanned my card and paid the fee, then I prepared to jump, and WHOOSH, the little doors opened and I flipped right into the test, and landed on top of some sort of pressure plate. This plate was much different. I noticed that it lit up even when I didn't touch it, and it had some little "8" shaped tabs on the side, and on the screen in the middle were two swirling arrows. It wasn't much of a "pressure" plate if I just had to be near it to activate it. Perhaps this was my first checkpoint. I finally stepped into the room and began the test.

I shot a path of ink for me to swim in (a strategy, I thought, that would become very useful). The room was strange. It had trees in it, and wooden boxes, and heck, even some more IVs. "Trees?! Man this subway is weird..." said the Cap'n, whose voice I heard from the CQ-80. He must still be inside the train. I agreed, this subway was weird, and it would probably only get weirder. I destroyed a few boxes. The orange ones had these weird orange blobs inside them that flew out when I destroyed the boxes and absorbed into my body. I noticed that each blob added one point to my point counter. Strange, but interesting. If I could find more of these blobs, I thought, then I could get so many more points. I continued to make my way into the station, until suddenly, something... oddly familiar, emerged from atop a pillar.

"Target acquired," said the figure that emerged, in a weird, synthesized voice, that made it sound kind of robotic. It looked so weird yet seemed so familiar. It looked like... another Octoling! It had four tentacles for hair, which were blue on top, that each curled up, and were turquoise on the tips. Their own skin was a light green color, too. It wore these red, glowing glasses, that seemed familiar but not quite. The figure wore clothes a bit similar to mine. They wore some... armor, that showed a bit more of their belly, and a pair of boots, that didn't look like they had heels, like mine. Also, their weapon... it seemed more familiar to me than the one I was holding.

I didn't know for sure this was an Octoling until the Cap'n spoke up, "Octolings are your friends, right? Maybe try talking to them." Perhaps that would work, I thought. If we were both Octolings than maybe we could work something out.

My plans changed when the Octoling said, "Destroy," and started shooting turquoise ink everywhere. Turquoise ink?! Did that mean that this Octoling was once connected to these weird IVs, which made them look that way, and caused them to shoot this ink? I didn't have too much time to think, because the Octoling jumped high into the air, landed on the ground, and started to run and shoot at me. 

"Egad!" said Cuttlefish, "Are they really going to attack a fellow Octarian?" It would appear so, I thought. I don't quite remember what these Octolings were like, but I don't think they would ever attack their own kind. Was this turquoise ink the reason they seem to be infected with why they were attacking me despite possibly knowing I was also an Octoling? Maybe, I thought. I wasn't sure what was going on in their head. Perhaps they don't even care if I was an Octoling, they seemed to just target... anything that's alive. Or perhaps... any _one_ who was a test subject! Maybe this was all part of the test, I thought. Still, something inside me said, I can't shoot this person, they're just like me. Sure they were attacking me, but that doesn't mean I should do the same to them. I didn't know what to say or do, I just ran away from the turquoise blobs of ink that were coming towards me. "You might wanna talk a little louder!" yelled the Cap'n. I was too scared to talk! I guessed I didn't have a choice. I shot my gun at the Octoling and they splatted into ink, and orange blobs, which absorbed into my body, as a little turquoise octopus ghost floated up into the sky. I froze... did I...  _kill_ them?! Before I could contemplate what just happened, the glass gate at the end of the room opened up. "The gate is open! I guess taking them out was a good idea after all." I guess so, I thought. Still, I felt a bit guilty for... possibly killing them. Or maybe... they had the ability to regenerate as I did. Maybe they have their own checkpoints. Yeah, I thought, I shouldn't worry about them. Before I went through the gate. I busted open another wooden box, and it had this weird suitcase inside. When I touched it, suddenly, this armor appeared over my body. How neat, extra protection, I thought, maybe this would be useful for the next part of the room if the next part of the test would be more difficult.

When I went to the other part of the room, I activated another checkpoint on the ground. Suddenly, another turquoise Octoling emerged from a pillar. It had this large, paint roller thingy, which seemed all too familiar. Maybe I was trained with this weapon as well, I thought. "Seek and destroy," said the Octoling with the paint roller, slamming it down, splashing ink. That paint roller of theirs seemed easy to operate, but painful if I was in its way. To my surprise, another turquoise Octoling emerged from another pillar, this time, with a weird umbrella, that could shoot ink from its tip, and open its canopy afterward. The umbrella also seemed to be a familiar weapon to me. I felt, was a bit more recent, like, newer. Maybe I was trained with it recently in my life? Perhaps, but at that moment, I wasn't sure how exactly it was supposed to operate.

"More trouble! Double trouble!" exclaimed Cap'n Cuttlefish

"Get 'em before they get you! That's the number one rule of the battlefield!" Finally, he was offering advice. He apparently knew these "rules of the battlefield", which I hoped were useful. I went for the paint roller Octoling first and splatted them with my weapon. Then I made my way towards the other one. Their umbrella canopy seemed to act as a shield, but it couldn't shoot ink while it was open. When it wasn't open, the Octoling could shoot multiple lined of ink out of it. I took the opportunity to splat the Octoling when the canopy wasn't open. Now that they were taken care of, I broke a few more wooden boxes which provided me with more orbs and more armor. I was relieved to get more armor because I realized how much that ink stung when it hit me. "Seems like they'd be friendly to you, yet they're attacking... But why?!" I wondered the same thing myself, and I still wasn't positive with a possible answer. "Well, whatever... The next gate has opened up, so get a move on!" I swam through a path of ink I made to get to the next area and activate another checkpoint.

The pillar was farther down the room, so I had some time to cover the floor in ink and destroy more wooden boxes. I realized that these Octolings get stuck in my ink, kind of like how Cap'n Cuttlefish did, so this would prove to be useful, I thought. I guessed this ink could work against Inklings  _and_ Octoling who weren't my own color. The turquoise Octoling, which I expected to come, later emerged from the pillar, this time, wielding two miniature ink guns in each hand. "Seek and destroy," they said, shooting ink from their weapons. These mini guns had a short range, but a quick fire rate. These weapons all seemed vaguely familiar, these two miniguns, specifically, seemed to be newer weapons, like the umbrella. 

"They're still comin'!" said the Cap'n, as the Octoling made a path of turquoise ink, which I quickly avoided, and dropped down from the pillar. Before they truly used their minigun, right when they hit the ground, they suddenly activated this incredible, yet scary, ink jetpack, which had a built-in blaster that shot large balls of ink that exploded on contact. "Wha-? Where'd they get one of those?!" said the Cap'n. I didn't know the answer to it, or what "one of those" was actually supposed to be called. This special sort of weapon seemed new, but a little less familiar than the other new weapons. I quickly tried to avoid all the ink that was coming at me, from the blasts of ink to the ink from the jetpack that pushed the Octoling up into the air. "Don't panic! Hide in the trees, and scope out the lay of the land." I didn't need this advice since I was able to split the Octoling while they were in the air, and I didn't lose any of my armor while doing so. The advice seemed to be useful, though. Hiding and scoping out the land could be a good... what's the word?...  _tactical_ strategy. "Phew...you made it through somehow," said the Cap'n, as the final gate opened, "The gate is open! Is this the way out?"

On the other side of this gate were these weird, yellow pieces of junk, that floated and swirled above a plate on the ground. Behind it was a large, electronic arch, floating in the air, with wires underneath the two ends. I didn't know what else this floaty thing could have been but the goal. "Octarians hunting Octarians..." said the Cap'n, "What has the world come to?!" I wondered that too. I was still super confused on all of this Octarian stuff, and testing stuff, and this weird ink, and... pretty much everything here confused me. I hoped to get answers soon. I didn't know how this goal was supposed to work. I couldn't touch the yellow junk, so instead, I shot the whole thing, and when I did, electric sparks surrounded the pieces as they got covered in pink ink, pieced itself together, and then slammed right into the center of the hole it was floating above, removing the ink it was covered in a large ring blast. That was cool, I thought. Now that the goal was activated, or, built I suppose, I touched it, and I heard a jingle all around me. It appeared that I had completed the test! 

{This part is also headcanon}

"Test passed!" said C.Q. Cumber. I heard his voice on my CQ-80. "Super jump back to the subway platform." Super jump? How do I do that? I remembered those turquoise Octolings I fought were able to turn into octopi, leap high into the air and land right where they seemed to want to land. Maybe I could do the same. I focused my energy and turned into an octopus. Then, with all my might, I super jumped all the way back to the platform and right on top of the pressure plate. What a rush, I thought. I felt like I have super jumped a lot before because it didn't seem too hard to do. I later realized that C.Q. Cumber seemed to already know that I was an Octoling since he knew about my abilities, and these tests seem to require my ink, which is most likely Octoling ink. Well,  _non-turquoise_  Octoling ink.

When I landed on the pressure plate, the cylinder came up and took away my weapons (I realized I didn't use my Splat Bomb during the test, but I didn't seem to have needed it. Perhaps it was just in case, I thought, useful for certain strategies). After my weapons were taken away, a small little... eraser like thing, floated down from the sky and into my hands. I cocked my head and smiled as I watched the little object gently hover above my palms. The object then disappeared, and then the machine took off my armor, and the cylinder went down, and I went back to the train, as it departed from the station.

I sat down on a bench and relaxed. I activated my CQ-80 and suddenly, the red dot turned into a white dot. It must have indicated a passed test. "Congratulations..." said C.Q. Cumber, "You passed your first test." I felt proud of myself and smiled. I noticed that same little eraser appear in the bottom left corner of the header for the station. "By the way, you received this memento when you finished. It's called a mem cake." Cake? Mmmm... I could really have used some cake. I was still very hungry. "Mem cakes are formed by compressing memories into a physical form." My eyes widened. 

"T-t-these are _m-_ _my_ memories?" I said. I was fascinated. I thought it was amazing that something as complex as memories could become something physical.

"Yes," answered C.Q. Cumber, "They'll be awarded to you by Kamobo Co. to commemorate each test you pass." Amazing, I thought. I would get rewarded not only with more points but with memories, too, when I pass these tests (I had just realized that my amount of CQ points has increased. The 600 were from passing the test, the rest were from those orange blobs). "Do you see the two rectangular buttons on the top of your CQ-80? Use them in your CQ-80 menu to check out your collection of mem cakes." After he said that, the map zoomed out, showing me the entire yellow line, and the two white squares on the sides of the mission I just passed turned into red dots. "New stations are now available for you to visit and test your skills within. You can move freely to any station marked with a red dot. Safe travels..."

This all seemed simple enough to me. I just needed to pass some more tests, get mem cakes and CQ points, find those four thangs, and make my way out of here. Before I could select a new test, I heard some weird static. It was coming from Cap'n Cuttlefish. "Huh... is this thing working?!" said Cap'n Cuttlefish, as he pulled out a walkie talkie from his pocket. I didn't even know he had that. I guessed there was no one on the other line... until now.

 

 

 


	8. Eight’s Final Challenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 8 finally makes it to the surface, at the top of the structure he was climbing. The light on the horizon was beautiful, no wonder it was called the promised land! Pearl and Marina pick him, Captain Cuttlefish and Agent 3 up in their helicopter, and set off to Inkopolis Square. That is, until something’s starts rising from the water...

(SHOOT DONT READ!!! I accidentally posted it, it’s not even finished!!!)


	9. The Promised Land

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party is victorious, and after watching a beautiful sunrise, they finally fly to Inkopolis Square. Lucas is so happy to see everyone safe, and is introduced to Agent 3, 8, and the Captain himself. Once everyone parts away, Robert tries to find his way around Inkopolis Square, and Marina tells Lucas all about her grand adventure.

(Enter words here)


End file.
